The present invention relates to the treatment of slaughtered poultry, specifically to a method of treating poultry and the system thereof for preventing bacterial contamination.
Conventionally, the treatment of poultry is performed based on the poultry treatment system shown in FIG. 5.
The poultry treatment system of prior art is, as shown in the figure, composed of; a pretreatment section 50 comprising a hanging part 50a, a bloodletting part 50b, and an immersion-in-hot-water part 50c; a treatment section 51 comprising a plucking part 51a where the pretreated poultry is plucked, a hollowing part 51b where the plucked poultry is cleared of the internal organs, the back passage, the trachea, and the gullet, except for the kidney, and a cleaning/sterilizing/cooling part 51c where the plucked and cleared-of-internal-organs poultry (hereafter referred to as hollowed poultry) is cleaned and sterilized; a dissecting/dispensing/packaging section 52 comprising a deboning/dissecting part 52a where the constituent parts of the hollowed poultry are disjointed and de-boned by manual work, a shape arrangement part 52b where each constituent part is arranged of its shape manually, and a dispensing/packaging part 52c (pack of 2 kg); and a shipment section 53 where freezing and packaging for shipment are performed.
In the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling part 51c, generally two or more water tanks are used. A water tank 51e of upstream operation side into which the hollowed poultry is firstly immersed is for cleaning. A water tank 51f of downstream operation side is for cooling the hollowed poultry. Clean water doped with bactericide is supplied from a bactericide-added liquid supply tank 51k to the water tank 51f of downstream operation side. The water with bactericide overflows the water tank 51f to the water tank 51e. The contaminated water overflowing the water tank 51e is drained out as effluent or it is circulated passing through a filter 51h to the bactericide added liquid supply tank 51k. 
Each water tank is kept to low temperature by receiving cold heat 51g through the medium of a heat exchanger for cooling.
Thus, the hollowed poultry from the hollowing part 51b is cleaned, sterilized, and cooled in the cold water tanks supplied with the bactericide-added liquid from the bactericide-added liquid supply tank 51k. 
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the manual operations at the de-boning/dissecting part 52a and the shape arrangement part 52b after the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling part 51c. The manual operations at the de-boning/dissecting part 52a where the constituent parts of the poultry are disjointed and de-boned, at the shape arrangement part 52b where peeling-off of the skin, etc. are performed, and at the dispensing/packaging part 52c, are performed under an atmosphere of ordinary temperatures of 18xcx9c20xc2x0 C. Furthermore, the hollowed poultry is liable to stagnate at the entrance to the dissection/dispensing/packaging section 52. So secondary contamination through worker""s hands, etc., bacterial contamination through mutual contamination, and the growth of bacteria, are induced, which has been a problem in sanitation control.
It is necessary for sanitation control of the food treatment process performed in the poultry treatment system that bacteria adhered to the surface are cleared or killed before the first dissection to keep the surface in the least contaminated state with bacteria and the contamination and infection with bacteria in the succeeding dissection process is prevented.
In the case of poultry treatment, the poultry must be reduced to the least contaminated state with bacteria in the process of cleaning, sterilizing, and cooling; and the operations in the succeeding dissection, shape arrangement, and dispensing/packaging processes must be performed in an environment sufficient to prevent contamination and the growth of bacteria. Sufficient consideration must be given to the conventional processes and system in regard to the condition of sterilization of bacteria in the cleaning, sterilizing, and cooling processes; to the maintenance of the least contaminated state secured theretofore; and to the operations and temperatures of atmosphere in succeeding processes.
Regarding the contamination with bacteria, the indicator is the number of bacteria per 1 g of food article. It is said for a chicken, for example, that the quality maintenance period is 4 weeks if the number of live bacteria is 102 per 1 g of the meat.
Regarding the temperature of atmosphere, 6xc2x0 C. is said to be the lower limit for the growth of bacteria. So, generally, the temperature should be kept below or equal to 6xc2x0 C.
For the prevention of contamination and drying in the succeeding processes, immediate packaging after dissection is needed. Stepped up consideration and improvements are desired concerning the long staying period under ordinary atmosphere temperature before packaging and the manual operations, from the viewpoint of prevention of contamination.
The present invention is made in the light of the problems mentioned above. The object is to provide a poultry treating method and the system thereof, in which are performed; a cleaning and cooling capable of securing sufficient low level of the least contaminated state with bacteria for maintaining quality (the number of common live bacteria in the packed meat is about 102 per 1 g) and a dissection, shape arrangement; and dispensing capable of preventing the contamination with and growth of bacteria in the succeeding processes.
The present invention is characterized in that the poultry treating method comprises; a pretreatment process comprising a hanging step, a bloodletting step, and a immersion-in-hot-water step; a succeeding treatment process comprising a plucking step, a hollowing step, and a cleaning/sterilizing/cooling step in which cleaning, sterilizing, and chilling (ice temperature) are performed; a succeeding dissecting/dispensing/packaging process comprising an automatic dissection step in which disjointing of the hollowed poultry to large parts and de-boning of the disjointed breast, thighs, etc. are performed automatically in a refrigerator, a shape arranging step in which operations after the dissection is performed manually in the open space above a conveyor (the open space is prepared so that the manual operation is possible), and a dispensing/packaging step in which the shape-arranged poultry parts are dispensed and packaged; and a succeeding shipping process in which freezing, packaging and shipping are performed right after the preceding step; and the dissecting/dispensing/packaging process needed to be performed after the treatment process before the freezing/shipping process are performed in a low temperature zone of at least below or equal to 6xc2x0 C.
In the method described above, the number of bacteria are minimized at the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling step where the hollowed poultry is cleared of the bacteria and the like attached thereto and then sterilized by a bactericide diluted with clean water and cooled. So it will do if the growth of minimized bacteria is suppressed in the succeeding processes.
Further, the dissection of the hollowed poultry into large parts and de-boning of the disjointed breast and thighs are carried out automatically in the refrigerator, while the manual operation is limited to the shape arranging step and dispensing step. So, contamination from outside, that is secondary contamination and cross contamination, can be suppressed.
The treatment process after the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling step before the shipping step is done under the low temperature atmosphere of 6xc2x0 C. or below with which temperature the growth of bacteria is suppressed, and the packaging is accomplished in a condition with which the growth of bacteria is suppressed. So, the treated meat can secure the freshness close to that right after the completion of the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling step.
It is suitable to carry out the dispensing/packaging while the meat treated under environment temperatures of 0xcx9c6xc2x0 C. in the preceding step is transferred to the packaging step.
According to the invention of claim 2, as also the dispensing of the shape-arranged meat is performed while it is transferred in a low temperature atmosphere of 0xcx9c6xc2x0 C., dispensing and packaging are possible without stagnation, and contamination prevention through fast treatment is effected.
Further, it is preferable to interpose cleaning with water before the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling step, after the plucking step, and after the hollowing step.
By performing cleaning for washing off the bacteria adhered to the plucked poultry three times, that is, after the plucking step, after the hollowing step, and before the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling step, the density of sodium hypochlorite for sterilization can be decreased to 10xcx9c30 ppm compared with 200 ppm in the case without the washing with water. As a result, since the density of diluted bactericide can be reduced to 30 ppm, stimulus odor when the meat packet is unwrapped can be suppressed to low level.
The present invention can be offered as a poultry treating system. Such system is a poultry treatment system composed of; a pretreatment section where the poultry is hung, bled, and immersed in hot water; a treatment section comprising a plucking part for plucking feathers from the immersed poultry, a hollowing part for removing the internal organs and the like, and a cleaning/sterilizing/cooling part for cleaning, sterilizing, and cooling the hollowed poultry; a dissecting/dispensing/packaging section comprising an automatic dissection part for dissecting the hollowed poultry, a shape arranging part for arranging manually the meat shape, and a dispensing/packaging part for dispensing and packaging the meat to shape for distribution; and a shipment section for freezing, packaging and shipping the meat formed for distribution; characterized in that, water-washing parts are provided in the treatment section for performing washing after the plucking and hollowing and before the cleaning/sterilizing/cooling treatment, dissecting in large parts and de-boning of the disjointed breast and thighs are automatically performed in the automatic dissection part in an atmosphere of temperatures below or equal to 6xc2x0 C., the shape arranging part is composed so that manual operations are possible on a cooled transfer conveyor from the dissection part under an atmosphere temperature below or equal to 6xc2x0 C., and the dispensing/packaging part is composed so that packaging is possible without stagnation on a conveyor in an atmosphere of temperatures below or equal to 6xc2x0 C.